Air Canada Schedules Boeing 777-300ER Flights Between Toronto & Orlando For Spring Break

Orlando, Florida, is often regarded as one of the leisure capitals of the United States. Given its warm climate and proximity to popular theme parks, millions flock to the area to enjoy all it has to offer each year. Orlando International Airport, the city’s main gateway, is one of the busiest airports in Florida.

Orlando sees demand from across the world, including from north of the United States in Canada. Several Canadian airlines serve the destination from their hubs, but Air Canada recently made some bold capacity increases to the Sunshine State in time for spring break.

Air Canada’s capacity increases

Air Canada will launch its 450-seat Boeing 777-300ER on select flights to Orlando International Airport from one of its largest hubs, Toronto Pearson International Airport. This move likely hopes to capitalize on spring break demand—Florida is a popular destination for leisure travelers at that time of year.

According to Ishrion Aviation, the service will be flown with a Boeing 777-3000ER three times weekly, starting on February 28, 2024, and ending on March 14, 2024. In total, 15 flights will be operated with the widebody aircraft, the largest in Air Canada’s fleet. The flight will depart Toronto at 20:00 and arrive in Florida at 23:09, and the return trip leaves at 07:00 the following day for a 09:47 arrival in Canada.

Air Canada’s service between Toronto & Orlando

Air Canada’s capacity on this route significantly expands as the weather begins to warm. Using data from Cirium, an aviation data analytics company, the carrier will start the year with 50,930 available seats across 266 flights in January 2025. Its most frequently deployed aircraft is the Airbus A321.

By February 2025, both flight frequencies and available seats will increase. That month, Air Canada will offer 52,032 seats across 281 flights. While introducing one 777-300ER flight is worth noting this month, the carrier will also operate the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, four times between the two cities.

While the 777-300ER is used in March of next year, Air Canada will continue to deploy the 787-8 Dreamliner on the route while also introducing other widebodies: the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and Airbus A330-300. These changes will likely accommodate increased demand for flights to Florida in the spring months.

In March, 70 flights will be operated by 787 Dreamliners, and another 34 by the A330-300. With such heavy use of high-capacity widebodies, March sees a remarkable spike in Orlando service from Canada’s flag carrier: a whopping 68,786 seats are offered over 297 flights.

By April 2025, things largely quiet down on the route. Though the total number of flights operated decreases only slightly to 297, available seats drop to 51,154, only slightly higher than January 2025. This is due to the carrier downgauging its service to only Airbus narrowbodies: the A319, A320, A321, and A220-300.

Orlando’s airline service

Air Canada, though deploying a lot of capacity to Orlando International Airport this spring, is not the most significant player in the market. While American legacy carriers like United serve Orlando with robust schedules, the market is dominated by low-cost carriers.

Southwest Airlines is the largest carrier in Orlando, and Spirit, Frontier, and JetBlue maintain bases at the airport too. Given its leisure-heavy demand, it makes sense that low-cost carriers tend to dominate the market.